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Australia’s broken organ donation system is fuelling a ghastly black market trade, where kidneys can cost up to $250,000.

Australia’s broken organ donation system is fuelling a ghastly black market trade, where kidneys can cost up to $250,000. Ragavan, a Chennai kidney broker, has a list of hundreds of Indians who want to sell their kidneys to foreigners, including Australians. (Pic: News Corp Australia/Gary Ramage)

THE DAILY TELEGRAPHToday we’ve exposed how some refugees are selling their kidneys to get the money for a passage to Australia or Europe.

And we’ve revealed how there is evidence terror group Islamic State is now involved in the trade.

There have been great improvements in Australia’s organ donation rate since reforms were introduced in 2009.

The number of deceased organ donors has risen by 76 per cent and the number of transplant recipients has risen from 799 to 1,241.

This is a credit to an army of hardworking doctors, a new national system and changes that have seen more staff trained to ask families to donate the organs of a loved one in their time of grief.More people need an organ transplant than there are organs available and it’s driving people to risk their lives to buy an organ on the black market.

This week we’ve lifted the lid on an ugly trade that is seeing poor people in places like India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines sell their kidneys for as little as $800.

Selling an organ doesn’t get them out of debt but it helps enrich doctors involved in the illegal organ trade who are making up to $250,000 out of each transplant. Continue reading